July 1917: Joseph Reavley, a chaplain, and his sister Judith, an
ambulance driver, are bone-weary as they approach the fourth year of the
conflict; the peace of the English countryside seems a world away. On
the Western Front, the Battle of Passchendaele has begun, and among the
many fatalities from Joseph's regiment is the trusted commanding
officer, who is replaced by a young major whose pompous incompetence
virtually guarantees that many good soldiers will die needlessly. But
soon he, too, is dead--killed by his own men. Although Joseph would like
to turn a blind eye, he knows that he must not. Judith, however,
anguished at the prospect of courts-martial and executions for the
twelve men arrested for the crime, has no such inhibitions and, risking
her own life, helps all but one of the prisoners to escape.
Back in England, Joseph and Judith's brother, Matthew, continues his
desperate pursuit to unmask the sinister figure known as the
Peacemaker--an obsessed genius who has committed murder and treason in
an attempt to stop Britain from winning the war. As Matthew trails the
Peacemaker, Joseph tracks his escaped comrades through Switzerland and
into enemy territory. His search will lead to a reckoning pitting
courage and honor against the blind machinery of military justice.
